A Christmas Carol
by SunnyWallflower
Summary: It's Christmas time again and Renee is a typical Ebeneezer Scrooge, hating the holiday more than anything else. What happens when she's confronted by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future? Will Renee ever change her mean-spirited ways? *Heavily inspired by "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens* *Oneshot*


Renee Martinez hated the holidays. Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukkah, whatever bullshit holiday you could name, she hated it. The sound of tinkling bells, children laughing, and worst of all, those wretched carolers singing songs of joy, all of it clanged noisily in her mind. Renee was a Scrooge, no doubt about it, and she intended to stay that way. Especially around the time for the holidays, Renee liked to coop herself up in her tiny rat-hole of an apartment in Hell's Kitchen; reading to her heart's content and munching on brownies and sipping green tea. It was always the plan every Christmas. To just pretend that the holidays never existed and that at every December twenty-fifth was just that, another date on the calendar.

"Hey, Renee, what's up?" Grace Wright gave a friendly pat on Renee's back.

Renee, clearly startled, said, "Nothing much, just waiting for the next customer to come in. I figured that I'd just sit back and relax for the time being."

"Oh, that's fine," Grace bobbed her head in understanding, annoying Renee. Then, Grace cleared her throat and said, "Renee, we need to talk about Secret Santa."

Renee looked at Grace with a look of feigned ignorance.

Grace continued, "Secret Santa was yesterday. Renee, Holly was your Secret Santa but she said that you told her to 'screw off.' She got a nice present for you, Renee, a beautiful scarf."

Renee looked up at Grace evenly, "What the hell, do I want with a fucking scarf?"

Stuttering, Grace found herself shocked at Renee's bitter tone, "Well, you don't have to accept the gift, Renee, but I seriously recommend apologizing to Holly, who feels very emotional about the whole ordeal. In addition, I recall that you were chosen as Melanie's Secret Santa but you didn't give her a thing. Melanie's feeling were also very hurt especially since she was the only one without a gift."

"You want me to apologize to her too?"

"Yes, and," Grace offered Renee a crisp twenty-dollar bill, "I want to you to go out and buy Melanie a gift. I don't care if you want to, but I do and that's what counts considering I'm your boss."

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"I wouldn't call it that, just think of it as a favor you're doing to keep the peace."

Renee glared at Grace, "You know I'm allowed to not participate in this stupid, commercial propaganda that the industries shove on society. I don't have to validate consumerism any more than I already do, you can, but I want no part of this. Buy the stupid gift yourself."

With an exasperated huff, Grace snapped, "Okay, you know what? It is blackmail. You want this job, Renee, how about you act like a good girl and suck it up. Holly and Melanie are a few of the top stylists in this shop and I won't have them distracted because you refused to get into the holiday spirit. Besides, it's the decent thing to do."

The two women glared at each other, Renee out of anger and Grace out of annoyance.

After a tense moment, Renee spewed, "Fine, I'll do it." Snatching the money out of Grace's hand, Renee continued, "But, I'm taking the rest of the day off."

As Renee gathered her belongings to leave, Grace commented, "Fine, but a bit of holiday spirit won't kill you."

_Oh shut up_, Renee grimaced as she stormed out the room.

* * *

Renee grumbled her way towards Holly, who was hanging up new stock on an empty rack. Ignoring Renee, Holly continued to hang up pretty pastel angora sweaters. A few of the other girls stared at the two women, knowing what had transpired between them. Halfheartedly, Renee cleared her throat a few times only to be ignored by a frigid Holly.

Placing her hand on Holly's shoulder, Renee said, "Hey, can we talk?"

Holly looked blankly at her, "I don't know, can we? I thought that talking wasn't part of the terms that require me to 'screw off.'"

Biting back a snarky comment, Renee said, "Listen, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I was being insensitive and not very Christmassy. I don't want you to 'screw off' or anything like that, I just had too much eggnog last night and I popped off. So, I'm sorry."

Quietly, Holly said, "I forgive you."

Selfishly, Renee said, "If you still have it, do you mind giving me the scarf? It's just a lovely scarf and I'd hate for it to get dusty in some corner."

"Oh, yeah." Holly dashed off to retrieve the present and quickly came back with a golden box topped with a red-and-green bow. Handing the box to Renee, Holly said, "Here, I thought it'd be perfect for you since you like wearing scarves so much especially during winter."

It was a pretty pale yellow with butterflies imprinted on the silk. Something that Renee might have picked out for herself if she really cared at all for scarves.

"Thanks, I'll put it to good use." Then, Renee paused. "No hard feelings, Holly?"

"Sure, everybody gets a bit rowdy on the 'nog every now and then."

"Good, that's good. Also, do you know where Melanie is? I just haven't seen her all day, I'm worried about her."

Holly shook her head pitifully, "Oh, Melanie called in sick. Poor thing has the stomach flu and it's even sadder that her Secret Santa was a no show yesterday. Who could do such a heartless thing around the holidays?"

"Oh," Renee felt a little tug on her conscience, which she brushed off quickly, "I know, what a horrible thing to do. You know what, I'm going to buy her some soup to cheer her up. So, do you mind giving me her address?"

"Not at all," Holly scribbled on a tiny piece of paper that she found in her pocket and handed the note to Renee along with a twenty-dollar bill, "Also, can you buy her some flowers and chocolates as a courtesy from us? It's the least we can do, especially since it's been rough for her around the holidays."

"Yeah. No problem." Renee pocketed the note and bill, promptly rushing out the door and leaving behind any thoughts of remorse that had encumbered her before.

* * *

"That'll be thirty-four dollars and fifty cents. Will that be debit or credit?" asked a mousy woman. Then, she asked, "Which cigarettes did you want again, Miss?"

"Red Mongoose. Also, I'll be paying in cash." Renee handed over two crisp twenty-dollar bills, the very same bills that were given to her to purchase goodies and holiday cheer for Melanie.

As the woman clacked a few keys on the register, she said, "Alright, Miss, that'll be five dollars and fifty cents for change. Would you like a bag?"

"Sure."

As the woman bagged a carton of cigarettes and two low-calorie frozen meals, she asked absentmindedly, "Also, would you like to donate to St. Miriam's Hospital for the fight against breast cancer?"

Taking the bag and receipt, Renee said coldly, "No thank you."

Briskly, Renee proceeded to leave the mini-mart, the cold breeze brushing against her cheeks a rosy tint. The winter had finally come and it was brutal, snow blanketing the streets in a foot-high layer, sidewalks petrified in frosty ice. The streets were shoveled out and salted down, leaving irregular mounds of dirty snow piled on the sidewalk. It just reminded Renee of why she hated the winter so much more.

Her stiletto heels clicked and clacked along the sidewalk as Renee walked towards her home. Then, she approached a snowman that blocked her way and instead of walking around it like any jolly, sane person, Renee lifted her stiletto heel and proceeded to stomp on the snowman until it was reduced to a pile of dirty snow and pebbles and sticks. Her heel cut through snow easily, making her job destroying the snowman that much easier. Nodding her head in triumph, Renee nonchalantly stepped over the remains, teetering for a moment on the frozen ground. Hearing a cry of horror from behind, Renee cooled walked away, not a single bit of regret in her bone.

* * *

With a clang, Renee tossed her purse onto her coffee table and threw herself on her cushy sofa. Smiling contentedly, Renee slipped a cigarette in between her lips and lit it with a green lighter that she stole from an ex-boyfriend. Inhaling the smoke, Renee looked over at the answering machine her brother bought her, which blinked a digital three. Pressing the button to hear her messages, Renee quickly deleted one as soon as the words "cable" and "free" were uttered. Then, a man's voice came on and Renee froze at the sound of his deep timbre.

"Renee, honey, it's dad. I know the last time we talked it was…unfortunate. Anyway, I was just calling to ask if you'd like to come down home and spend Christmas with us. I know it's Christmas Eve but it's never too late to catch a flight, which I am willing to pay for. The time around the holidays isn't the easiest for all of us, especially you…" His voice dragged meaningfully for a moment, "We just want you to know that we're here." The voice paused for a moment and then, said cheerfully, "So, when you get this message, give us a call. Max misses you and so do Lena and the new baby. Merry Christmas, baby, we miss you."

Propping herself up with her elbows, Renee took a long drag of her cigarette and calmly deleted the message from her father. Rising off her comfortable sofa, Renee turned on her radio, which, unsurprisingly, began to play Christmas songs. After flipping through twenty stations, Renee finally settled on a station of "easy-listening atheist music," whatever that meant. As an atheist version of "Jingle Bells" began to tinkle its way from the radio, Renee brought out a bottle of chilled red wine, a nineteen-seventy bottle of some fancy French place. At least that's what Renee deduced from label on the bottle, which had a picture of a vineyard along with French words in curlicue letters. Thirty minutes and one carton of cigarettes later, Renee found herself a bit sleepy, her arms cradling the half-empty bottle of wine, as an episode of _Friends _blared from her television. Sleepy, Renee let out one more chuckle before allowing her head drop to her chest, succumbing to sleep willingly.

* * *

A shadow eclipsed Renee as she batted her eyes in a half-hearted effort to open them. When she was fully aware of a shadowy figure in front of her, Renee scrambled to sit up. Fear pulsed through her veins as Renee fought to appear calm.

Renee sputtered, "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

Then, to Renee's surprise, a tiny voice responded, " I'm the ghost of Christmas Past."

"Ha, I bet you are." Growing less afraid, Renee rose up and turned on her lighter, revealing the voice's owner to be a tiny girl.

The girl was dressed to the nines in a burgundy velvet dress, her wispy brown hair tied in a low ponytail with a lacy bow at the center. A pink rabbit hung limply from the young girl's petite hand and Renee remembered that she used to have one just like it, from the missing button-eye to the hounds tooth bowtie. Renee found her muscles tense as she slowly brought the light towards the young girl's face, then, she opened her mouth to speak but words escaped her. A young Renee Martinez stared back at her, big doe eyes, button nose, and pouty lips.

Collapsing onto her sofa, Renee stared at the young version of her in shock. Finally, after five minutes, Renee asked, "How?" Renee looked back the bottle of wine and muttered, "That's some funky wine."

The young Renee squeaked indignantly, "It's not the wine!" Waving her hands impatiently, the ghost said, "It's not important how, but why I am here."

Renee looked at her younger self evenly. Staring into her eyes until the young Renee grew uncomfortable.

The young girl pursed her lips. "If you really want to know, I was sent here by someone, someone you'll meet soon enough, to help you see how you grew into the person that you are today."

"No, tell me now, who sent you?"

Annoyed, young Renee squeaked even more, "It's not in my place to tell you, so you'll just have to wait. Alright?!"

Covering her ears to block out the abrasive squeakiness of her past voice, Renee acquiesced, "Fine, fine, just get on with it then. God, I don't remember myself being this annoying."

The ghost pouted, then, offered the hand that wasn't holding the rabbit, "Well, come along then. We don't have all day."

Renee's thin, long fingers folded over the small hand of her younger self as she said, "Oh, shut up."

* * *

"Jesus, I haven't been here in forever." Renee muttered to herself as she stepped into festive halls of her family's mansion.

Renee never really liked her father's mansion, it was always too big and empty.

Out of old habits, Renee knelt down to take off her ankle boots, kneeling beside the ghost, who was doing the same. The two looked at each other in mutual understanding as they peeled off their shoes and placed them in a neat row against the door. Soon, Renee heard the voices of a man and a woman scream at each other, a sound that was too familiar.

"Ricky, I can't keep lying to myself! I can't keep lying to our Renee!"

"Maria, calm down, I don't see why you can't be mature about this!"

"Oh, yes, I'm supposed to lie to my daughter and pretend for Christmas that mommy and daddy are okay even though daddy comes home every day high on cocaine with the stench of booze!"

Renee flinched at the sound her mother's statement, and looked towards her younger self, who stood there emotionless. On her knees, Renee tried to shut out the bitter and acerbic words that her parents mercilessly flung at each other.

Whispering, Renee tugged on the hem of the ghost. "Come on, let's go."

The ghost didn't respond and stared lifelessly down the hallway.

Before Renee could say anything, her mother's voice said, "I'm through. You can drag yourself down but I refuse to join you."

"Maria, don't do this. Not on Christmas."

"Christmas has no meaning to me until you get help."

Suddenly, a tall woman with brown hair tied in a bun came into sight, rolling a suitcase from behind her. From what Renee remembered, her mother looked just like her with the exception of her mother's green eyes. Then, her father appeared, trailing behind her mother. As her mother slipped on her boots, Renee stared transfixed, just a few inches away from her, so close that she could smell the rosewater that her mother splashed on the nape of her neck daily.

Ricky tried to reason with her. "Maria, what about Renee?"

With her back to him, Maria coldly said, "She's at Nicole's house, I'll be staying there with her until the divorce is finalized."

Fat tears dotted Maria's face and Renee instinctually reached out to brush them away, forgetting that she too was a ghost.

"Don't leave, Maria. The snow out there is bad. You'll get hurt."

Opening the door, Maria said brokenly, "Ricky, you've hurt me more than anything in the world. I'm not afraid."

Then, Maria left, for the last time. Renee trembled slightly but swallowed back a cry. She knew that she wouldn't be able to change the past. No matter how much she wanted, it was already written in stone.

Renee's voice was hoarse, "Get me out of here."

* * *

"Throughout middle school, you refused to put any effort into your schoolwork and your father sent you off because he was ashamed of facing the consequences of his addiction." The ghost dragged Renee through the mansion, opening the door leading to the den.

Inside the den, it showed a young Renee being sent away cooperatively as her father collapsed into tears, having been transformed into a raggedy version of himself.

"Once you entered high school, you opened yourself to new experiences, like trying weed and kissing girls."

The ghost lead Renee into the next room, which showed a gaunt Renee waking up in a dirty room filled with the muggy smoke of weed being burned. She remembered that that was also the time she shaved off all of her hair in an act of defiance against her school's headmaster.

"Then, you met Charlie. A young, charming egghead in college."

Renee felt her body tense at the sound of his name. Still, she allowed the ghost to lead her up the stairs and into her parents' bedroom. There, inside, was a skinny, sandy-blonde boy seated on her parents' bed, reading _A Christmas Carol_. He looked up and gave a toothy grin as a healthier looking Renee approached him.

"He was the love of your life, but you were cutting yourself off from life so harshly that you severed the bond that you two had."

Charlie caressed the cheek of younger Renee as she coldly brushed away his hand. Then, Charlie let out a sigh of disappointment and he walked past all three forms of Renee. The three forms of Renee sat on the edge of the bed in disappointment as well. Then, the ghost said something unexpectedly.

"He married someone else, two years after he left you. He married a smart girl in the same college as him and has two children with her, he's never been happier."

Then, an older Charlie entered the room, carrying a baby in his arms, along with a pretty woman, carrying another baby in her arms. Renee felt fury course through her veins as she threw the first thing she could grab, which was the comforter on her parents' bed. The comforter went right through Charlie and the woman, doing no harm, and they kept walking towards Renee with accusing expressions on their faces.

Turning back to the ghost, Renee screamed, "Why are you doing this?"

"I told you, it isn't my place to say."

"Yeah, well, you'll tell me…or I'll…I'll…" Then, Renee snatched the rabbit out of the ghost's hand, "I'll kill your doll."

"I can't!" The young ghost cried, making pathetic grabs for the doll. "I promised I wouldn't tell!"

"Then, say goodbye to Ricky the Rabbit." Said Renee unsympathetically. The moment Renee tore off the rabbit's head everything went black.

* * *

Renee propped herself up, finding herself face first on the floor of her apartment. Relieved to find herself back in her home, Renee took a few deep breaths and tried to make sense of her dream. It had to be a dream and nothing more. The sight of her mother and Charlie had shaken Renee and she found her face moist with tears.

Suddenly, a series of knocking disturbed Renee and she approached the door. Opening the door, Renee knew what she had previously experienced wasn't a dream as Renee was confronted by another version of herself. This time it was a haggard looking Renee, who seemed to be hung over, wearing the same outfit as Renee's at the present with the addition of a pretty looking scarf wrapped around her neck. This "ghost" held the same bottle of wine that Renee drank earlier, except it was empty.

This ghost slurred in a monotone voice, a fog of cigarette smoke engulfing her body. "Alright, I'm the Ghost of Christmas Present."

"Are you…"

"Yeah, I'm you, the present. I represent every single Christmas for the year that is present, so, here I am. Ghost of Christmas twenty-twelve. Also, forgive me if I look like a mess but you already know plenty about that."

"I don't care what you look like or who you are, I just want to be alone."

"I expected you to say that. Now, I'm going to tell you to get your coat because it's about to get chilly, quick."

Wordlessly, Renee put on her coat, knowing that fighting back was useless. The ghost offered her hand, the same as the previous ghost, and Renee took it.

* * *

"So, why are we here?" Renee asked as the ghost led her towards Strata, the one shop that appeared to be still open. All the other shops in the area were closed, the lights turned off, but Strata seemed to glow with warmth and light.

"You'll see." The ghost took Renee's hand and together, they floated up until they were on the glass ceiling of Strata.

Looking down, Renee saw all her coworkers, from Grace to Holly, happily mingling with each other as Christmas tunes filled the air. Everyone chatted animatedly and joked lightheartedly, it was easy to see that people were having a good time. Even the CEO, Dominic Miya, was there, clinking glasses of champagne with subordinates and coworkers alike. Renee's ears rang with the sound of their laughter and a part of her yearned to join them. Everything looked so warm and happy, so Christmassy that Renee felt sick just looking at it all.

The ghost answered Renee's question as if she read Renee's mind, "Why didn't they invite you? Oh, I don't know. You just seem so full of holiday spirit that they all raced to invite you and in doing so, all the phones burst from the amount of power they exhausted."

Renee glared at the ghost and her bitter sarcasm.

Squarely, the ghost said, " Honestly, they figured you can 'screw off.'"

Renee stared at her ghost, "As nice as it is to see everyone having fun without me, why did you bring me here?"

"So, that you'd understand how detached from life you are."

"I don't understand. I mean I'm mean and standoffish but I'm not completely cut off from life. I went to that party yesterday." Renee scoffed, "I even did Secret Santa…kind of."

"Oh, yes, Secret Santa. You mean the Secret Santa that you were supposed to do for a Melanie Waldorf, correct?"

Renee remembered what she did with the Secret Santa money and felt an overwhelming sense of shame. "Yes…"

"A Melanie Waldorf, whose worth to you is a pack of cigarettes and two "Skinny Fit" frozen meals. All of which you planned on consuming yourself."

Indignantly, Renee lied, "Hey, I got her a scarf! That should count for something!"

Then, Renee's ghost smirked sadly as she tugged on the pretty scarf around her neck, "You mean this scarf?"

Renee was left speechless, all of her excuses running dry. The ghost took a hold of Renee's hand and said, "There's one more thing for me to show you before my time's up."

* * *

The first thing Renee saw was a mustard colored hallway, carpeted in a dirty burgundy rug. As soon as her feet touched solid ground, Renee asked, "Where are we now?"

"You'll see." Her ghost responded as she motioned for Renee to enter through a door simply label "Three-zero-six."

Renee slipped through the door easily and stopped at the sight of a cat figurine. Immediately, Renee knew where she was. Calmly, Renee walked into the only other room in the tiny apartment, the bedroom of Melanie Waldorf. Melanie looked sickly, pale and gaunt and there was something odd about her expression. It wouldn't be inaccurate to call it sadness or depression but there was something deeper in her expression and her demeanor. Melanie's shoulders hung limply as her eyes bore into the wall. It was in her eyes, it was like an acceptance of something. Melanie looked like she was dead and that she accepted it.

Tears welled in her eyes as Renee reached out for Melanie, her body trembling in shock. Caressing Melanie's soft cheek, Renee murmured tearfully, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"You didn't kill her." The ghost materialized from behind Renee, startling her.

"I know." A tear slipped down Renee's cheek.

"No, I mean she isn't dead."

"What?" Brushing away her tears, Renee asked, "But will she…"

"Yes, soon." The ghost took a drag of her cigarette before continuing, "This girl is dying of a broken heart. Her mother brings her to America for a good education. Melanie was one of the top students in her private school. Then her ailing mother passes away and Melanie's grades slip as a result of dealing with personal matters, which causes her to lose her scholarship. She drops out of school and finds odd jobs anywhere to work, to survive since there is nobody else she knows in America. Her relatives urge her to come back home but she knows it's impossible to raise the money for one ticket. So, she slowly rots away in the only home, she'll ever get to know. Now, she's sick and the holidays only remind her of how lonely she really is. Sure, Melanie has friends but friendship only goes so far. So in a way, the two of you are alike, you're both lonely, but the difference is that you choose to be and she doesn't."

Renee's voice grew hoarse with anxiety, "Can I stop it?"

The ghost glared at Renee. "What do you think?"

"Please, take me back." Renee grasped the ghost's arms tightly as she begged, "I can make this right. Please."

Brushing off Renee's pleas, the ghost said, "It's not up to me."

Angrily, Renee shouted, "How can you do this to an innocent girl? How can you be so cold?"

Then, the ghost shrugged, giving Renee a sardonic smirk, "I learned from the best."

* * *

Cold sweat beaded Renee's body as she frantically scrambled around in the dark. Quickly, Renee flipped the light switch and the small apartment flooded with light, revealing a hooded figure. It was definitely a woman although her face was masked by a dark hood. The woman said nothing, only extending out her hand like the other ghosts before her.

"Let me guess, you're the Ghost of Christmas Future."

Although, the ghost didn't respond, Renee could tell that she was agreeing with her. Taking a deep breath, Renee took the ghost's pale, clammy hand in hopes that this would be the last journey.

"Can you believe it?" A woman dressed in a pastel blue, Jackie O styled suit took a sip of her tea.

A similarly dressed woman in pink took a sip of her tea and said knowingly, "I can. Truly, it was one of the leas t surprising news to ever be heard."

A third woman, in a purple Jackie O suit, took a sip of her tea and said, "Yes, and, God forgive me, I'm glad she's passed. At least, now, she's out of her misery."

The other two women nodded in agreement, all of them taking a sip of their tea.

Then, the one in pink asked, "Are any of you going to the funeral?"

Purple said imperiously, "Honestly, after all the trouble she put us through, I doubt it. I'd consider it if the family provided lunch."

Blue said, "Oh, I doubt it. The family is very ashamed and doesn't want to attract attention in any way."

"Yes, but surely, they'd provide lunch. They aren't peasants after all."

"Well, I, for one, am not going. I say good riddance to her and people like her."

"Indeed."

The three women took another sip of their tea and the conversation ended on that note.

* * *

Renee felt shaken at the blithe tone those women took when speaking of death, as if the person truly deserved death. The ghost led Renee into a small shop, a decrepit one at that, showing her the image of a young woman, not much older than Renee. The woman was handing the man behind the shop counter a box.

Taking a look at the item inside the box, the man shut the top of the box close. He remarked, "Ma'am, it's pretty but I'm afraid that I won't be able to offer you much for it."

The woman shook her hand dismissively and said with a decisive edge in her tone, "I just want it gone."

"Alright, Ma'am, just don't throw a fit at the selling price especially considering the condition it's in. One would think that someone went out of their way to mistreat it."

"It's an antique." The woman bitterly said, "My sister gave it to me, years ago."

"Is that so?"

"It is so. The money?"

"Here." The man handed the woman two twenty-dollar bills and she thanked him.

The woman quickly left the shop as the man opened up the box again to admire the item. Shaking his head, the man muttered, "Shame something pretty as this is gonna rot in some dusty corner."

Renee froze as she caught a glimpse of a pale, buttery yellow. Then, the ghost placed a hand on her shoulder and they left the scene.

* * *

"It's me, isn't it?" Renee said. They were now in a graveyard even more decrepit than the shop they were previously in before.

The ghost began walking towards a lone gravestone, Renee trailing behind. Tears rained down Renee's cheeks as she finally reached her grave. RENEE MARTINEZ was engraved in the gravestone and only that. The gravestone rested on a spotty patch of dying grass, brown, crunchy grass that crunched underneath the weight of the devastated Renee. Bent over her own grave, Renee sobbed hopelessly, tears soaking her face and the ground as she realized how unloved she truly was and that it was all her fault. She shut out people so brutally that eventually there was no one else to shut out. Finally, when she had no more tears to shed and no more cries to utter, Renee turned to the ghost, now fully aware of the ghost's identity.

"I'm sorry, Melanie."

The ghost lifted her hood, revealing Melanie's face. She looked pitifully at Renee but nodded understandingly. Melanie had died of a broken heart, killing herself by jumping off the roof of her apartment building, which in turn, paralyzed Renee with guilt, who knew that she should have given Melanie the gifts she deserved instead of wasting it on meager food and cigarettes. It was Melanie's ghost that would haunt Renee's future.

Renee developed an addiction to alcohol, a pathetic attempt to erase the guilt she felt at Melanie's death. Once her addiction consumed her, Renee shut out her family, isolating herself in her apartment. The only time Renee ever communicated with anyone was with her father and only for money. Eventually, Renee's father died from a heart attack and Renee came to the funeral, seeking inheritance money. Then, for the first time, she met her younger half-sister, who was about fifteen years old, and gave her the scarf without a single explanation. It was revealed later on that Renee had stolen fifth teen dollars from her sister in exchange for the scarf, which prompted Renee's excommunication from the family. Finally, ten years after her father's death, Renee died from cirrhosis of the liver, common for alcoholics, and her family buried her far away from her parents, in a lonely little plot of barren land.

Renee gently caressed Melanie's cold cheek and said, "I want to change."

Melanie didn't respond, only grasping Renee's hand and removing it from her face. Then, Melanie's ghost stepped aside as a fog suddenly thickened around them. A shadow soon became visible as it approached the two. Renee felt her body relax as she saw who it was. The figure embraced Renee and Renee felt herself go limp in her arms.

"Mother."

Renee's mother ran her fingers through her hair and said, "Renee, you need to learn how to live life. You can't shut yourself off from life and from love."

"I know."

"Don't hold my death against anyone and most certainly do not hold it against your father. Instead, embrace him and mourn. Then, you have to learn to love. You have to learn to participate in life. You can't isolate yourself from the rest of the world. If you do, you won't be able to live."

"I understand." Renee separated herself from her mother and said, "I'm ready to love. I want to participate in life and I think I'm finally ready."

"I'm proud of you, baby, I'll always be."

The last thing Renee saw was the faces of her mother and Melanie, both smiling with joy and pride.

* * *

Gasping for air, Renee touched her face and her body, wondering if this had all been a dream. Giving herself a pinch, Renee painfully confirmed that she was in reality. Then, at that realization, Renee started laughing, quite hysterically an outsider might observe. Salty tears plopped down her cheeks as Renee kept on laughing, overjoyed to be out of the nightmare. The same episode of _Friends _was playing, which Renee quickly turned off as she picked up the phone, dialing the number urgently.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Daddy."

"Oh, hi, baby. How have you been?"

Renee could no longer contain herself, "I love you. I'm coming home tomorrow. I love you. Talk to you later. I love you so much. Tell everyone at home I love them."

Before he could respond, Renee clunked down the phone into its receiver and rushed to the fridge, pulling out two frozen meals and placing them in a grocery bag. Grabbing her purse, Renee scurried out of her apartment as if someone's life depended on it.

* * *

Pulling out the note with Melanie's address, Renee made sure that it was correct before ringing the buzzer for Melanie's apartment. As she waited for a reply, Renee noticed that the paper the address was written on had lottery numbers like a fortune from a fortune cookie would. Flipping the note on its back, Renee let out a giggle of surprise.

Renee read aloud, "Engage in life, and the truth will reveal itself."

Then, Melanie's voice croaked from the buzzer, "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Renee."

"Oh, hi. Is there something up at work?"

"No, not at all. Everything's fine at work."

"Oh…that's good." Then, Melanie proceeded to cough painfully. Afterwards, Melanie asked, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Sure, I'd like some company on Christmas Eve and I was wondering if you were willing to join me."

* * *

**Just something fun I thought of doing for Christmas. Also, I did this out of spontaneity, which means that this is completely unedited. Happy holidays and I hope you enjoyed this short story. **


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